Tag: Out-of-body experience

The step by step instructions that I was taught, similar to those in the
LLEWELYN Practical Guide to Astral Travel, worked better for me – it took me
a lot of practice to get to where I could do it and it seems that for most
people it takes practice, although some can do it spontaneously. In fact it
happens to some the first few times with no warning and then, after worrying
they have gone crazy for a while, they later learn what it is. But I did just
want to say for those like me for whom it does NOT come easy, not to get
discouraged but to try working with it one step at a time.

Two interesting points about astral travel for me. One is that I find it more
interesting to explore the astral planes than to explore specific locations on
this plane. However when you are first learning, exploring specific locations
on this plane can help. Laurie Cabot suggests picking a store near you that you
have never been in, try projecting to it, immediately on arising write down your
impressions of it and then, as soon as you can, visit the store and check out
your impressions. If they are not all correct, don’t be discouraged The example
she gives is DID YOU SEE RED BEHIND THE CASH REGISTER AND IT’S NOT THERE? Perhaps the cashier that day or evening was wearing a Red sweater! The longer you wait to visit the establishment, the more likely it is they will move
something or change a display, so go soon after your visit.

The second is that I used to do it as a kid, no problem – right up until my Dad
told me it was all in my head and I had imagined it. Then I couldn’t do it
anymore.

A note here – My DAD, who used to be a hard-core skeptic, started attending a
Spiritualist Church I hung-out at when he married my step-mother. I find it
humorous that originally he went there because it was non-denominational so you don’t have to believe everything the ministers teach and because he liked the
ministers, but he didn’t buy the Psychic stuff. Well, lately he’s changing his
mind as he’s had some startling experiences. I’m good, I’m nice, I don’t tell
him he is imagining things. But I can’t help laughing about it to myself
just a little bit.

Oh, some of the stuff the Llewelyn book suggests is to practice opening your
chakras first and grounding the energy, work on that for 1 week to 1 month.
WHEN YOU HAVE IT DOWN PAT (be honest with yourself here or you can forget it) work on projecting a cloud of your energy out through your solar plexus (some people work better projecting from the 3d eye, I personally project the body through the solar plexus and when I project the consciousness into it, I do it via the 3d eye. BUT since these are all merely visual aids to doing something
non-physical, I am not sure that it matters IF YOU ARE ACHIEVING VALID RESULTS) and leaving this energy as a cloud only then reabsorbing it. YOU DO NOT PROJECT YOUR AWARENESS INTO IT. You absolutely MUST reabsorb it. That is done for a week or a month or however long it takes. It is done by creative visualization until you get it to the point where you can feel that it is something more.

Then you do the same thing for a week or a month, ONLY YOU SHAPE THE CLOUD INTO A SIMULCRAM OF YOUR BODY (if you are also trying to heal yourself, use the ideal form you wish to achieve – make it realistic and so it looks like you) WITHOUT projecting consciousness to it, you send it out to watch a situation you can later check on for yourself. When it comes back at a prearranged time later on, meditate for a while and write down your impressions AND DO NOT THROW ANY OF THEM OUT AS THEY SEEM SILLY OR IMPOSSIBLE – truth is often stranger than fiction. Check on these later, DISCREETLY – don’t TELL people you sent an astral traveler to them, say I HEARD THAT you went such and such a place today while I was in school so you can say to your mom that someone saw her and told you or something, OR just say it’s a hunch, or, if you have the impression that your mom called your grandmother while you were in school, just say I WONDER HOW GRANDMA IS DOING? and see if your mother doesn’t say, THAT’S WEIRD SHE CALLED ME TODAY.

PEOPLE GET PARANOID IF THEY THINK THAT YOU CAN WATCH THEM – AND THEY ALSO THINK YOU ARE THE CRAZY ONE IF YOU SAY YOU CAN DO THIS. Interestingly enough science (psychology) tells us that one of the classic symptoms of Paranoia is to think the OTHER person is crazy.

Always be sure to bring the simulcram back at the pre-arranged time and REABSORB IT!

The next step is to project consciousness into it, go out with it, and reabsorb
the energy/substance afterwards – but only try this once you have the watcher
exercise down pat.

Method One:
Start off by placing some markers around your room or home. These markers could include such things as a rose, a bowl of cold water, a shoe, etc.. Now lie down on your bed. Next, get up and make a circle, going from one marker to the next and back to your bed. Involve yourself with each of the markers. Smell the rose. Feel the cool wetness of the water. Feel the texture of the rubber sole of the
shoe. When you return to the bed, lie down in your original position.

The next step is to visualize above you a cloud of the purest white. It may
remain as a cloud or you can form it into the shape of your own body (idealized
if desires). You may notice a connection between your physical body and your
double in the form of an umbilical-like cord at your navel, solar plexus, third
eye area, or at the top of your head. People experience this cord in different
places.

Now, will the cloud or double to circle around the markers following the same
path that you had taken earlier. If you noticed the cord, you can see that it
will stretch indefinitely. Have the double or cloud smell the rose, feel the
water and feel the shoe, just as you did earlier. Eventually, this imaginary
tour will change to bi-locationality and finally to astral projection. Once you
have attained these states, there’s no need to limit yourself as to where you
can go. Feel free to visit a friend’s home. Remember that you are learning a
new skill, so don’t try to go too far until you are very comfortable with the
experience.

Even if you are only using imagination, always reabsorb the double or cloud back
into your physical body when you have completed your journey. Also, always end
with a banishing ritual.

Method Two:
This is similar to method one. Either lie down or sit in a chair. Begin by
visualizing a cloud in front of you (or over you if you are lying down). If you
wish, you may form it into a double of yourself.

Now, firmly desire to transfer your consciousness to the double. If you feel a
sudden change in your body, described by some as a lightening or vibrating
feeling, will yourself to open your eyes. Do not try to physically open your
eyes by using your muscles. Just will yourself to see. Do not be surprised when
you see your physical body in front of you.

Spend no more then three minutes concentrating or trying to cause your
consciousness to leave your body and join your Astral self. If it works, fine.
If it doesn’t work in about three minutes, that is fine too. Relax, take some
deep breaths, and try again tomorrow.

The key to succeeding with this system (and with all of the methods, really) is
the URGENT DESIRE TO LEAVE your physical body. When you succeed, be sure to reabsorb the double into your physical body at the end of the projection. Of course, do banishings before and after.

Method Three:
Lie naked on a bed. Have a friend or relative put a folded heavy bedspread on
your feet. Now have your aide slowly drag the folded spread up your body until
it reaches the top of your head. Then the person helping you should quickly lift
the spread up and away from you and quietly leave the room.

Now duplicate the process in your mind’s eye. Only instead of a bedspread, feel
your Astral body rising up. First your feet rise, then your ankles, calves,
knees and so forth to the top of your head. At the point where the bedspread was
lifted from your physical body, imagine your consciousness going with the Astral
body. When finished, reabsorb the double or cloud back into your physical body.

Method Four:
Hear the musical note D natural above middle C in your mind. A little practice
with a piano, pitch pipe, or a friend with a musical instrument will make this
pitch familiar to you. Now double the frequency of the pitch in your mind so
that you hear a pitch an octave higher then the first note. If you are not a
musician, a friend with musical knowledge can help you with this.

Again hear the tune, only an additional octave higher, then hear it an octave
above that. Continue this process until you are far above a piano’s range.

You will notice that you are feeling lighter as the notes get higher in pitch.
You may sense a vibration in your head. Let the sound rise higher and higher as
you feel THE SOUND rise towards the ceiling of your room. When you sense that
the sound is as high as you can go, both as a pitch and within the confines of
the room, will your eyes to open. Again, don’t be surprised if you see your
physical body below. When finished, allow the double to be reabsorbed into the
physical body. This method is particularly good for musicians.

This article is being written in response to the overwhelming interest in
“Astral Travel”. It is my hope that I can dispel many of the myths of Astral
Travel, and provide some common-sense approaches to the subject for the student.

WHAT IS ASTRAL TRAVEL EXACTLY?

The very first myth I wish to dispel is the nonsense concept of “Out of Body”.
When speaking of Astral Travel, the term works well enough as a metaphor; but
many people today seem to have forgotten that it is only a metaphor. How many
hours of wasted time have students invested in half-baked techniques of “getting
out of the body”? I, personally, spent years laying on my back vainly trying to
figure out exactly how to leave my physical body. Likewise, most of the people
who I run across report the same results.

Astral Travel is, quite simply, a method of visiting other planes. However,
it is the nature of these planes that are gravely misunderstood. Let us use, as
an example, the Wizard who spends much time Astral Traveling into the various
Planetary Spheres- also known as the Seven Heavens. In all of the mythological
writings which describe these Heavens, they are specifically described as Higher
Realms. However, when we read the writings of these Wizards, the journey is
described as an inner one. In Shamanic Cultures as well, the Astral Journeys
known as “Vision Quests” were known to be the inner realms of the Shaman’s
psyche. In Australia, the Astral Elm is plainly called the “Dream-Time”.

And so the Astral Realms are, in fact, the inner realms of the Self. Thus it
is that getting “out of body” is a worthless goal- not to mention impossible.
Of course, others will present evidence that they do have interaction with other
Beings- sometimes right here on Earth- while Traveling. These experiences are
often valid, and their nature will be covered below.

The basic thing to keep in mind is that you have been Astral Traveling all of
your life. Being that the Astral Realms are within us, then the obvious
realization is that gaining them is simply the gaining of a certain level of
consciousness. Have you ever been so extremely bored that you “zoned out”? You
entered into a fantasy of some sort, and lost track of everything going on
around you. You were perfectly awake, yet you were “a million miles away”.
This was Astral Travel. Dreaming is another form of this, and Lucid Dreaming is
certainly a form as well. It’s that simple; there are no hidden meanings to
this. Dreams and Daydreams are Astral Travel. The only “trick” is in learning
how to do it at will.

GIVING THE ASTRAL BODY A WORKOUT

The first and foremost thing we must do is give the Astral Body (or Body of
Light) a workout. After spending your whole life in a wheel-chair, one can not
hope to be a runner without some effort toward physical therapy. Thus it is
that I will stress the need for three practices to be done daily for a while
before you can hope to achieve any real success.

One is a Purification and Balancing Ritual. This will serve to blast out of
your aura (the Astral Body) all of the garbage that might otherwise hinder
progress. I suggest the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram very strongly
for this purpose.

Two is a Charging of the Chackras. This will bring large amounts of Energy into
the aura, and get all of it’s component parts up and running. For this purpose
I suggest the Middle Pillar- which should be done immediately after the
Purification above.

And Three is the Circulation of the Body of Light. This consists of two or
three different exercises, all designed to immediately follow the chakra
charging. One is to visualize Energy rising from the ground, through the body,
and bursting forth from the crown of the head like a fountain to rain back down
to the ground. This should cycle repeatedly with the breath- Energy rises with
intake of breath, and falls back to the ground with each exhalation. The next
is to visualize Energy running up one side of the aura and down the other- first
up one side and down the other, and then up the front and down the back. You
can also make it change distances- first a full arm’s length from the body, and
then later make it go up and down along the spine. This should also cycle with
the breath.

Do this everyday at the same time. After you have learned the exercises so that
you can do them smoothly, allow them to continue for a couple of weeks before
continuing with the following. Once you begin the methods below, do not
discontinue them at all. It would do no harm to do them everyday for the rest
of your life, but at least do them until you have mastered Astral Travel.

METHODS OF TRAVEL

Before you continue reading this, I want you to try an experiment. Get into a
comfortable sitting position, or perhaps lay on your back. Clear your mind, and
begin to fantacise about something. It doesn’t matter what- just chose a
setting and allow a little movie to play out within your mind (you don’t even
have to be involved in the movie). Do this now, and then read on afterward…

Now, at this time I will ask you a few questions. Number one: Were you able to
accomplish the exercise at all? Were you able to bring any pictures into your
mind, and have them be solid enough to have any impact? Number two: Did your mind wander? Was it hard- or even impossible- to keep your mind focused on the fantasy? Did you keep losing your train of thought? Did you perhaps fall
asleep?

And, Number Three: How real was the fantasy? Were you aware of what was
around you in the room you sat or laid in? Did you have to move the characters
of your fantasy around consciously like puppets? Did you have to write the
story as it progressed? Or, were you able to completely lose yourself into the
fantasy? Did it seem to take on a life of it’s own and just take you along for
the ride?

If you were able to completely lose yourself into the fantasy, then you are very
lucky indeed. Most likely, however, you experienced some of the above
problems- if not more. The skill of Astral Travel is the skill to avoid these
problems; and, as you can see, not one of them has anything at all to do with
getting “out of body”. Following, then, is a method you can use to gain an
Astral Experience.

MAKING THE ASTRAL BODY

The first thing you have to do is to make your Astral Shell. Of course, it’s
already there, but it’s your ability to picture it that lacks. Thus, we will
work on some techniques for this. Of course, you will surely experience all of
the same problems as you did during the above exercise. However, if you do this
often you will get better at it. There are no easy answers, only practice,
practice, and more practice. It is best to do this everyday at a specific time;
begin at perhaps five minutes, then ten, then fifteen, twenty, and so on.

Get into a nice quite place where you can be sure you won’t be disturbed. Get
comfortable in either a sitting or lying down position. Now, take a deep
breath, and as you do so imagine a great amount of Energy being drawn into you. You can visualize this coming from everywhere, or from the Earth, or from Above- it doesn’t matter. Just make sure that you see and feel this Energy building higher and higher as you take in the breath. Don’t worry about whether it is real or imagined, just imagine it and know that it is working. Once you get
used to the feeling, you’ll know it’s not just imaginary.

Now, once the Energy is built, let all the air out. As you exhale, hold your
hands out as if grasping a ball, and imagine all of the Energy being forced
between them in a spherical shape, and glowing a Golden color. Once you get
used to doing this, you will notice a very specific effect. Holding this ball
of Energy tends to feel much like trying to hold two magnets together with the
same poles facing each other. You’ll feel a kind of non-physical “push” against
your hands.

Once you’ve accomplished this, visualize the Ball moving away from your hands
to a short distance in front of you. Immediately see the sphere take on the
shape of a body- specifically yours. Once more, I stress, don’t worry about if
this is real or imagined. It is real. What the beginner must realize is that
what he imagines IS real. The methods I’m describing are simply ways to make
the imagination seem more real.

At this point, you have a version of yourself standing before you. Of course,
it could (and should) be an idealized version of yourself. I usually picture
myself in full Ceremonial garb. Spend time picturing this. Allow it to move
around some. You can even get up and move, visualizing it matching your
movements (this is similar to an important technique that I will describe
later). You can even go ahead and picture yourself doing something in an
imaginary world- but I would reserve this for a while at first.

The point behind all of this is to help you to visualize yourself. You should
become so familiar with this picture that you can easily call it to mind. At
first, however, you will probably have difficulty. You will only see parts, and
often forget details. Each time you do this, simply correct it and go on with
the exercise. As you practice, it will get better. Give this about a month or
so- or until you are good enough at it to satisfy yourself. Remember, the only
one you can lie to or cheat on this is yourself.

Lastly, as you do this, and the vision gets more stable, you can dispense with
the golden sphere. Just gather the Energy and send it out to form the Shell.
Just remember that this should only be done once the Shell is fully formed, and
you can easily picture it in all detail. Making the golden sphere will help you
focus your mind to the goal. Once you’ve accomplished a good mental mock-up of yourself, then proceed with the following:

THE ASTRAL TEMPLE

This method is one which kills two birds with one stone. Many, possibly most,
Magickal Traditions put a certain amount of stress on the Astral Temple, Middle
Temple, or Place of Comfort. All of these are names for the same thing- a kind
of personal space upon the Astral Plane which only you can access. Once you
master Astral Travel, it is a place where you can go to perform Ceremonies at
any time, anywhere, and with little notice. Best of all, it will always live up
to the image of your own dream Temple or other Sacred Magickal Space.

The practical work on this is extremely simple. Get into your usual place, at
your usual time, and start to fantacise: Get a good picture of your ideal
working space. See yourself walking around in it. Examine all the implements
upon the Altar and the Temple furniture. Have fun with it- it’s that simple.
Of course, you’re just adding the aspect of a background to your previous
visualizations. You want to be able to call the image of your Temple to mind as
easily as the image of your Astral Shell. You’ll want to give this a month or
so as well.

Besides walking around in the Astral Temple, you may wish to perform a simple
Ritual. The Cabalistic “Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram” is a rather
nice one, as well as the other Rituals I mentioned above such as the Middle
Pillar and Circulation of the Body of Light. In fact, you will want to
eventually perform these daily Rituals strictly on the Astral. This serves as a
kind of gauge for progress- to see how far you can get through the ritual before
losing the train of thought. In time, you will be able to perform the entire
Ritual. It will seem less forced, and, most importantly, you will lose track of
your physical body. However, keep in mind that you should NEVER attempt to cast a spell while learning. What harm could be caused if you get half-way through a spell and then lose your train of thought?

Another thing to keep in mind is that it is OK to see yourself from the outside
at first- as you did in the first exercise. Just daydream as you normally
would. As you become accustomed to it, you can begin to try the Astral Body on
for size and daydream from the view-point of the main character- you. After a
while, this will happen naturally anyway. Above all else, BE PATIENT. Give
this time- it could take months to make progress. You would short yourself if
you gave up even before a year (though, don’t allow that to frighten you, as you
should have results much sooner than that).

A SIGN TO LOOK FOR

As you practice this, I’m sure you’ll be looking for some kind of sign of
progress. Of course, the main sign is that you forget about the physical body;
that you get lost within the fantasy completely. However, there is also another
side-effect you will notice in time.

Events on the Astral are not limited the same way as they are here on the
physical. There is no inertia to overcome, no muscles to flex, no atmosphere to
push through, no gravity pulling down, even words do not have to formed on the
lips and vibrated through the air. Thus, you may spend what seems like an hour
or more upon the Astral, only to wake and discover that it’s only been fifteen
minutes to half an hour. This “time displacement” is only achieved by becoming
properly lost in the fantasy, and forgetful of the body. Thus, it serves as a
great sign-post for progress.

BODY MOVEMENTS

There is one final aspect of the above work that I wish to now stress. As you
move within the Temple, and you finally begin to view the fantasy from your own
viewpoint, you will want to pay special attention to how your own body feels.
Not your physical body, but the Astral Body. Feel your legs as they move, and
your feet as they move across the carpet, tile, grass, or whatever. Run your
hands along the surfaces of the Temple furniture and implements. Feel the
temperature of the air around you. Hear any sounds that may be present. This
is an important aspect of gaining full Astral Travel; this is the “trying on of
the Astral Body” I mentioned above.

There is also an exercise that you can use to aid this process. Just as above,
the main problem with gaining Astral Travel is the difficulty of “tricking”
yourself into feeling like you are there for real. Therefore, we can aid our
Astral Senses by first getting better acquainted with our physical ones.

To begin with, simply sit or lay in your comfortable, quiet place as usual. Hold
your hand in front of your face and look at it. Don’t just glance at it, but
really look at it as if you’ve never even seen a hand before. Take in every
detail you possibly can. Most importantly, move the hand. First flex each
finger. Then move the entire hand in various motions. All the while, pay very
close attention to exactly how the hand looks during that motion, as well as how
it feels.

Now, while keeping the hand in front of your face, close your eyes and create a
mental picture of the hand as if it were “overlaid” over the real one. As you
move your real hand, picture the imaginary hand making the same motions. Since your real hand is acting as a guide (even though you can’t see it), this
shouldn’t be too difficult. While you do this, tell yourself that the physical
sensations you are feeling from the motion are coming from the imaginary hand-
that is, forget about the real hand as best as you can. Finally, once you get
that down, cease moving the real hand altogether and allow the imaginary hand to continue it’s motions. You may be surprised to notice that the physical
sensations- which you have tricked your mind into thinking are coming from the
imaginary hand- do not cease. Of course, they will waver some at first because
you will be able to feel your real hand stop. However, the skill here is to
ignore that sensation and to remain focused on the imaginary (Astral) hand.

Once you have this down, then continue with both hands. From there proceed to
your arms. And do not stop this process until you have targeted every body-part
possible in this way. Do this with walking, sitting, crouching, etc., etc.,
etc. A good friend of mine once made the wonderful suggestion of doing this
(once you are working on full-body movements like walking) in a pitch-black
room. If this is not possible, then simply closing or blindfolding your eyes
will do.

Once again, this is not a process of hours, days, or even weeks. Give it a
couple of months at the least. The point here is to become intimately familiar
with your body-movements, and it will take as long to do this with each movement as it takes to become familiar with anything.

THE OTHER SENSES

Once you can A) control your mind to have a decent daydream, and B) trick
yourself into thinking you are physically there, then you can proceed onto the
other senses of the body. This exercise will be a breeze once the above is
mastered.

Around your comfortable area, place five different objects that relate to the
four senses of smell, touch, taste, and hearing. For instance, place a glass of
vinegar about five feet to your left; a bowl of ice five feet in front of you
to your left; a lolli-pop five feet in front of you to your right; and a bell
five feet to your right.

Now, sit in your place, relax, and clear your mind. Slowly stand, walk to the
vinegar, and take a good whiff. Then continue to the next station and push your
hands into the ice. Go from there to the lolli-pop and taste it. From there
continue to the bell and ring it, and finally return to your starting place and
sit or lie down. Just as above, REALLY experience these things as if you’ve
never been exposed to them before. Normally we take these things for granted,
and that is why I’ve suggested such extreme sensations as vinegar, lolli-pops,
and ice. Also, don’t forget to concentrate on your body-movements while you
stand up and walk from one station to the other.

Do this a few times until you feel you are familiar enough with the procedure.
Then, upon returning to the starting position, simply imagine yourself arising
and repeating the process anew (you might want to actually project the Astral
Shell as described above first). Once again, you want to trick yourself into
thinking you’re really doing these things, and to forget about the physical
body. If you lose train of thought at all, simply imagine yourself returning to
the starting point, and then physically get up and start over again. Also, you
may also wish to picture the Astral part of the exercise as being within the
Astral Temple.

This process shouldn’t take as long as the first procedures. At this point, you
should be getting pretty good at it, and things will fall into line rather
quickly. But, still, give this a couple (or more) weeks to really set strongly
within you. As it gets easier, you may wish to alternate the sensations. Change
the vinegar for a sweet smell, the lolli-pop for a salty taste, the ice for
something warm, soft, or rough, and the bell for other sounds. Once you
dispense with the physical objects altogether, spend time on the Astral
alternating them. Pick up the glass and will it to be vinegar, and then
immediately will it to be another liquid, and then another. And so for the other
stations.

By the time you complete this, you should be pretty set as far as the Astral
Body goes. You have charged it, fitted it for size, and gotten used to walking
around in it. At the same time, you have fully constructed your Astral Temple
for later use. All in all, you are Astral Traveling, and it only remains to
make some use of it.

SENSORY DEPRIVATION

Before I continue, I want to briefly discuss the concept of gaining Astral
Projection by way of sensory deprivation. This is a kind of short-cut to the
practice, but as you will see it is certainly not the desirable method.

In the Ancient World, an Initiate into a Mystery Tradition (or sometimes even
manhood in general) was forced into Astral Projection for the purpose of coming
into contact with Spirit Guides, Gods, Elevated Masters, and other such
concepts.

Especially in the instance of “coming into manhood”, the Priests did not have
the months necessary to train one for Astral Travel. And, quite frankly, these
Ancient Cultures did not have the sophisticated techniques we do today to make
the process any easier.

The Ancient Egyptians would tie the Initiate to a stone slab in a dark,
soundless room for three days. Of course, the Initiate was not bond fast- but
if he got up, he would not be able to re-tie the knots himself and his failure
of the ordeal would be known. In the Celtic lands, the Shaman would wrap
himself in a hot, scratchy wool blanket for a few days. Other Cultures would
mutilate the body and, literally, half-kill the Initiate. The purpose of all
the above is the same: to deprive the mind of all of it’s input (the sensory
deprivation), and also to make the person as uncomfortable as possible without
actually killing him.

The result was that the mind HAD to wander elsewhere- else it would surely go
insane. Simply, the lack of sensory input, food, and water, as well as the
pain, would make the person hallucinate. The Priests would have previously
spent time training the Initiate in their systems- filling his head with all the
appropriate Symbolism- so that the hallucinations were more than likely to
follow along those lines. If they did, then the Initiation was a success. If
the Initiate failed to meet the correct Astral Beings, then he was deemed
unworthy of the Path, and sent elsewhere.

What might surprise you is that you have, most likely, already undergone this
very Initiation! Remember above when I asked if you had ever been so bored that
you “zoned out”? When I speak of this, I tend to think back to my school days.
Long hours sitting in a drab classroom, listening either to absolutely nothing,
or to the incessant droning of a teacher. Not being allowed to move, fidget,
speak, or focus your attention on anything of any interest. Add to this the
horribly uncomfortable seats they made you squeeze yourself into, and (if you
happen to be old enough to remember the older ways, or Catholic) even the pain
of the stick as the teacher patrolled the class looking for reasons to abuse
you.

And what was the result of this? You zoned out, went a million miles away, and
basically went jaunting around the Astral Plane. You didn’t know it then, but
now you do, and I hope it brings things into perspective. You’ve already been
Initiated into the Art of Astral Travel. Of course, we experience some problems
because (unlike the Ancients), these were the very times that we were told to
“come back to earth” or to “stop pretending!”. Now we simply have to learn how
to Pretend again, and to make practical use of it.

SO, DOES THIS MEAN IT’S ALL IN MY HEAD AFTER ALL?

The answer is no. Astral Travel is not a state of getting out of body, but it
is a the gaining of a state of consciousness that is not restricted by the body.
As Shamans and Wizards alike know, the deeper into our Selves we go, the closer
to the “Collective Consciousness” we get. Ninety-nine percent of what we
experience on the Astral is totally subjective. However, there is that small
percentage of the experience that is objective. People can interact with each
other, and with other Entities upon the Astral.

One of the things that seems to draw most people to Astral Travel is the concept
that we can do things such as visit friends or other Earthly locations. However,
what is not understood is that this is not Astral Travel, but Etheric Travel.
To understand this concept, I will simply have to explain how the various Planes
are constructed.

THE PLANES AND SUBTLE BODIES

There are five principal Planes (supposedly accessed by various spiritual
“bodies”) that concern the student of Astral Projection. For those of you who
have read other books on Astral Travel, you will be familiar with the following
list of “Subtle Bodies”. From the highest to the lowest they are:

You will notice that the Astral Body is the second step from the physical. The
fact of the matter is that all Astral Travel occurs here. Some theorize that it
is possible to travel on the Higher Planes, but I do not know if this is the
case at all. The higher Planes shown above are more concepts than anything
else.

If, when we Travel, we are upon the Astral Plane, then when are we on the
Etheric Plane? The answer is simple- the Etheric Plain is the realm of the
Conscious Mind. Modern science has long pondered exactly what the Mind is. The brain we know- but the physical matter which we call a brain does not account for the concept of the sentient and conscious Mind. The Mind is not something physical, but it is certainly something that interacts with the physical. Thus, the Mind must be one single step above the physical- which is the Etheric Realm.

The normal Etheric state is to be perfectly awake and conscious of the world and
the body. When we Astral Travel, we are elevating our awareness another step
higher into the Astral Realm. And thus is the difficulty with Etheric Travel.
In order to project to a physical location, we must force our awareness back to
the level of normal waking consciousness, but somehow keep ourselves from BEING awake and conscious of our bodies and immediate surroundings.

This is certainly possible, but it is extremely difficult. Most texts on Astral
Travel will speak of this “Out of Body Experience” occurring to people who are
sick or dying- where their Mind is not functioning properly to begin with. In
fact, I have personally Etherally Projected once in my life- while I was
extremely sick. It was fun for what it was worth, but that wasn’t much. It is
not only a rare and difficult thing to achieve, but it is basically unnatural,
and an overall useless practice. If it were indeed of any real use, I assure
you the Spy industry would be a vastly different field today.

ENTERING THE HEAVENLY REALMS

Now that you have both the practice, and the concepts behind the practice down,
it’s time to leave the Astral Temple and start visiting some of these Outer
Realms the Grimoires tell us so much about. Though I will not go into any major
detail at this time, I will at least cover the concept.

Many sources tell us about “Gates of Entrance” which we can pass through and
meet all kind of strange and wonderful Beings. They give us the image of the
Gate, and the formula for entering, but only the Initiate may know exactly what
the “Entrance” itself is.

Let us say that you wish to visit the Astral Realm of the Forces of Aries. You
would construct an image of the Aries Symbol, in the proper colors of Aries, and
place it upon your altar. You would then go about a Ceremony of Invocation for
the Forces of Aries, complete with a Calling of the Entities who you wish to
speak to within the Gate. Once all the power has been raised, you would sit
before the altar, get a good picture of the Aries Image in your mind, and then
Astral Travel through it. Some teachers have you actually enter the Astral
Temple first, and then to see a Gate, Door, or Curtain at the edge of the Temple
with the Image upon it. Then, already in your Astral Body, you simply walk
through the Gate and into the land beyond it.

From that point onward, everything you experience will relate to Aries. You
will meet with the Beings you have Called, and They will guide you through the
land and teach you what you are ready to learn about it. If you call no Guide,
or if They simply to not show, then you can walk around and see the land for
yourself. Though, you will more than likely see things that you will wish to
have clarified at a later date.

This practice is for the intermediate to Adept student ONLY. One must know all
about the Sign of Aries so that one can verify the vision. For instance, if the
Adept enters the Aries gate and sees a vast sea with mermaids lounging on rocks,
then he knows that a mistake has been made (for Aries is a Fiery Sign, not a
Watery one). The beginner would not recognize this, and thus would be receiving incorrect information. Of course, there is little to no chance of the Adept entering a Gate with such contradictory results. And, in fact, the same goes for the beginner. Instead, the differences will be subtle enough to fool the
Wizard if he is not on his game. There are many skills that must be learned so
as not to be deceived within the Gates. I am specifically leaving these skills
out, as well as the above mentioned Ceremonies, so as to discourage any foolish
experimentation.

The Major point to visiting these Realms is Initiation. As we visit each Plane,
we will be Initiated into the Forces contained there. We can become Initiated
into the ways of Fire, Water, Air, Earth, the Zodiacal Forces, and the Planets.
We can Astral Travel into ANY symbol to learn more about it- be it occult or
mundane. One could Travel into that man-shape on men’s rooms if one so desired.

SCRYING

As a final note, I wish to mention Scrying. This is exactly the same as Astral
Travel, with the exception of not losing consciousness of the body. You do not
participate in the vision, but simply watch it as an observer. As above, any
symbol can be used for this. For general divinitory purposes, many things can
be used such as a crystal ball, candle flame, etc. Of course, there’s nothing
wrong with just closing your eyes and going for it as well.

Other than that, I will not go into the subject of scrying. I do hope that the
above has greatly helped you in your search for Astral Travel. And I hope that
it has cut through most of the bull surrounding the subject. Good luck on your
journeys!

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This note comes from Shiu. Shiu writes……

Would you mind to share your astral projection experience if you have done it before? Thank you

Thank you for your question, Shiu. I don’t believe I have ever been asked this. Definitely a good one and interesting one. I can tell you my experiences. Then you talk to another Practitioner and his/her experiences will be totally different. No one has the same experiences ever. I also believe no one goes exactly by the book when it comes to astral projection.

I tried to astral project in the afternoons. HA! You can’t get this place quiet for nothing. The phone will rang, someone knocks on the door or Kiki (my familiar) thinks I dead. I always end up waiting till bedtime to project. When I first start it was kind of difficult I will admit. My mind runs 90 miles an hour (trying to get it quiet was a job in itself). But I finally managed to do it. There are times I get a lot on my mind and just want to run away. Well I get to staring at something, concentrating and the next thing I know I am gone. You realize you are in another plane and your wondering how the heck did I get here.

Enough with all of that, you wanted to know about my experiences. Ok, here goes….

Most of my projection involve my family. I lost my mother at a very young age. Through astral projection I am able to see her. I leave this world and look back and see the Earth. It looks so liquid and transparent. Then I turned around I can be walking down a familiar street that I knew when I was little. But at the same time I can see this world here. It is real, real faded. You make out buildings, your own house, everything. You even have people walk right through you. We are co-existing with another plane right around us we cannot see. Then I make it to my house where I grew up and I run to get to the door. Open it and there is my mother and sister waiting to see me. We hug and of course, I cry every time. (When I wake up my cheeks are wet from the tears). Then we talk. They give me advice on what I should do and shouldn’t do. Then after I realize I have been there forever, I have to go. That is the hardest part, leaving. I have known witches that say one day they aren’t coming back. I can understand why but you have to realize you live in this plane. You do not belong in that plane yet. I would love to stay but I have a family and I know they need me, so I leave.

I have one more experience and then I will hush. This one is when I astral projected back into the past. I met a certain man on the net. I can pick up certain feelings from people. From him, I was getting a very distinct feeling I knew him. I did a little digging and come to find out I did. That night when I did my projection, I kept thinking, “let me know him, take me to him,” over and over. I traveled for sure that night. I was going back in time. I could see things change. The cars and trucks changed to older models, then none. The houses and landscape changed drastically. When I finally got to where I was going it was during the Colonial days. Up in Boston, you could see the brick streets, the old buildings and there I was in one of those hoop dresses. I saw a man dressed a British military uniform. He was running toward me, there was smoke and fighting everywhere. He grabbed me and told me, “I had to leave, get out of town quickly.” He kissed me on the lips and left. I never saw him again. Again I woke up with wet cheeks because I had been crying. But I now knew who that man was. I did several more projections and learned quite a bit about us. Come to find out before the war broke out, we were engaged to be married. He had picked out our house and everything. But we never married. Like I said I never saw him again. So the man I met in this plane turned out to be the man in the British uniform. It is so strange to run into one of your past lovers after so many centuries have passed. I told him what I had seen and he was fine with it. In fact, there were a few things he said, “oh, yeah about!” Wild, huh!

Well, my dear, I hope I haven’t bored you to tears. I have quite a few more tales I could tell but I might run everyone off, lol! Astral projection amazes me. You can travel through time and space, to the future, to the past, it is utterly amazing. I won’t advise you to try it and I won’t advise you not too. I will leave that up to you. But if you do be sure you have excellent control over your mind and have no fear. Because fear is one of the main things that stops projection from working.

Shapeshifting

There are two types of shapeshifting; changing your light body in the astral to power animal, & changing your physical form on the earth plane into an animal. Perhaps this is where the lycanthropy legend actually began. Very adept shamans are said to be able to change their physical human forms into that of animals.

There is also a middle ground where we should not miss. During certain ritual dances, humans can be possessed by the animal spirit. Although they outwardly do not become the animal, their body may contort or move in the fashion that the animal is most comfortable. Vocalizations are also heard, such as the cry of the Eagle, scream of the Falcon, etc. These power dances are not harmful, as long as they are done within some type of magick circle. Inwardly, the individual melds with the animal. The human’s sense of smell or sight may be heightened, there
could be increased dexterity in the limbs, or a feeling of savage power that the animal may represent. It is exhilarating & enlightening.

In the astral, taking on the shape of the animal is not particularly dangerous. I had only one glitch, & that was in the form of a panther, where I had to learn to control the beast & not let it run away with my (or its) strength.

In order to keep accurate track of your astral studies, you should use your notebook. Be sure to write the date, time, moon phase, weather conditions & your own health at the time of the travel. Also indicate the reason for the exercise.

Call friendly Faeries and/or Fae Elementals to join you. Be sure to offer any spirits called from the Other World food, drink, stones, etc. Call on the directional quarters or runic powers and light a candle to them.

Your first task in this technique is to identify the negativity. State that you wish to drive the negative influences out of your life and say it bravely and loudly as if addressing the negativity itself. Show no fear on which the unwanted energy might be able to feed.

The second step is to build up an image which represents what you have identified. Visualize a symbol of the negative influence forming before you. This can be of any form although it should preferably be capable of life (i.e. a viper as opposed to a blade.)

The third part is to destroy (banish) this astral entity. Use a visualization to aid in banishment.

Point at the imagined negativity and project a bright blue pentagram at the figure from your fingers and shout, “(name) be gone!” This shout should cause the visualization to dissolve or be destroyed.

Or visualize a vivid astral weapon of some sort, point the astral weapon at the figure and say something like:

“By the Power and Energy of the Lord and Lady of the Fae, I command you (name) to vanish, depart, disappear. You are banished forever and may not return.

A bolt of Colorful Energy is emitted from the tip of the astral weapon and surrounds the image with Vivid Electric Energy. It is destroyed and it dissipates. Allow the weapon to dissolve back into the Astral Plane.

Astral Projection is one of the most amazing experiences you can have. It is a process by which the human consciousness temporarily leaves the physical body and functions independently, while the physical body remains still and passive throughout.

There are hundreds of techniques available that induce Projection. But since there is no universal method that would work for everyone to attain conscious projection, we will discuss some different kinds of techniques. You should know them all to decide which one suits you best.

In this section we will discuss some most popular and widely used techniques of experiencing an OOBE.

1. Rope Technique : This technique has been formulated by Robert Bruce and is one of the most effective techniques around. A key ingredient to this projection technique is an invisible, imaginary rope hanging from your ceiling. This rope will be used to exert dynamic pressure at a single point on your astral body to force its separation from the physical.

Reach out with your imaginary hands and pull yourself, hand over hand, up the strong, invisible, imaginary rope hanging above you. You will feel a slight dizzy sensation inside you as you do this. This feeling of vertigo will intensify the more you pull on the rope.

Keep climbing, hand over hand, ever upwards, and you will feel the vibrations start. Your whole body will seem to be vibrating and you will feel paralyzed. Concentrate single minded, on climbing your rope. Don’t stop.

Next you will feel yourself coming free of your body. You will exit your body in the direction of your imaginary rope and will be hovering above your body. You’re free at last!

Tell yourself that you are going to watch yourself in the act of going to sleep. You must be very clear about your intent. You’re going to let your body sleep while your mind will remain alert throughout the entire process. Tell yourself you will retain consciousness even while your body is going to be in complete “trance”.

As you relax completely, you must learn to recognize the rather strange, distinctive sensations you feel as your body moves into the sleep state. You MUST stay aware as this unfolds. At a certain point, you will feel that your body is feeling heavy and numb.

You are on the right track! Pay close attention to all your bodily sensations. You may feel yourself swaying or floating. You might even find certain parts of your body tingling. There might be vibrations running from your head to toe. You might even hear a strong buzzing sensation in your ears. Whatever the sensations, do not panic as these are very good signals that you are on the verge of experiencing an OOBE.

You have to then visualize that you are rising up from your bed and floating towards the ceiling. How would it feel if you could actually float? Try to make the experience as real as possible. Hold this image for as long as you can. If everything goes on well, you might suddenly find yourself outside the body, floating near the ceiling!

3. Monroe Technique : Robert Monroe, one of the foremost authorities on Astral Projection devised this method.

You have to first relax your body. This is a very important step.

Then try to go to sleep, but don’t fall asleep. Maintain your awareness between sleep and wakefulness. This is known as the hypnagogic state. Then deepen this hypnagogic state and start to clear your mind of unwanted thoughts. Simply look through your closed eyelids at the blackness in front of you.

Then you must enter an even deeper state of relaxation. The next step is to induce vibrations throughout your body and intensify them. These vibrations have to be controlled and intensified further. This is the moment when the Astral body will separate from the Physical body. You then simply have to “roll-over” and you will find yourself out of your body.

4. OOBE from Lucid Dreams : Lucid dreams are dreams in which the dreamer is aware that he is dreaming. In a Lucid Dream a person is already “out” of his body.

In order to achieve Astral Projection from Lucid Dreams, you have to first become obsessed with OBEs and you must really DESIRE it. You must read everything you can about it. You must think about it every free moment that you have.

Once your mind is besotted with the thought of OOBEs we will need triggers and affirmations so that you have a Lucid Dream. During the day keep thinking: ‘Tonight I’m going to have a Lucid Dream’. Remind yourself of this all day long. And – and this is the important part – keep asking yourself during the day “Am I dreaming now?”

With a few days of practice, you’ll have programmed your sub-conscious to induce a Lucid Dream.

Once you are in a Lucid Dream, and know that you are dreaming, you would also know that you are not in your body. You can then will yourself to see your bedroom. In most cases, when you do this, your dreamland will suddenly disappear and you will find yourself in your bedroom, floating above your body.

5. Displaced-awareness Projection : Close your eyes and get into your usual trance-state Try to sense the entire room, at once. Feel yourself just above your shoulders and seeing all around. Be very passive about what is going on.

Then imagine that your Astral Body is slowly rotating by 180 degrees. Once you finish your mental rotation, your Astral head should be where your physical feet are, and your Astral feet would be where your physical head is! With this firmly in your mind, try visualizing the room from this new direction.

The idea is to forget about where you really are, and displace your sense of direction. When you do this correctly, you will find yourself getting dizzy. This is normal.

When you are comfortable with this, the next step is to imagine floating towards the roof. Try to make it as real as possible. You may suddenly find yourself “popped” out of your physical body!

6. The Jump Technique: The Jump Technique, when done well, can wake up anyone in their dreams and make them Lucid. However, it does need to be done well.

This is how the technique works: We repeatedly need to ask ourselves during the day whether we are in a dream or not. It is important that we do this not just for the sake of asking ourselves the question, but because we really want to know where we are. We should really doubt that we are in the Physical. So in order to prove where we are, we jump as if we were going to fly. If we are in the Physical, we will land back on the ground. But during a dream, when we jump, we will defy gravity and float.

When this is done for a few days, you will soon find yourself in a dream in which you are jumping to check whether you are in a dream or not. As soon as you jump, you will find yourself floating, thus triggering a Lucid Dream and an OOBE.

7. Muldoon’s Thirst Technique: This is not one of the most pleasant or effective methods designed by Sylvan Muldoon.

In order to use this technique, you must refrain from drinking for some hours before going to bed. Throughout the day increase your thirst by every means you can. Keep a glass of water in front of you and stare into it, imagining drinking, but not allowing yourself to do so!

Then before you sleep, eat a pinch or two of salt. Place the glass of water at some convenient place away from your bed and rehearse in your mind all the actions necessary to getting it: getting up, crossing the room, reaching out for the glass, and so on. You must then go to bed, still thinking about your thirst and the means of quenching it. At night, you might awaken in your dream and you will find yourself walking towards the glass of water. With any luck the suggestions you have made to yourself will bring about the desired OBE.

8. The Stretch-out Technique: Lie down, shut your eyes and relax your body. Imagine your feet stretching out and becoming longer by just an inch or so. Once you have this picture in your mind, let your feet go back to normal. Do the same with his head, stretching it out an inch beyond its normal position. Then, get it back to normal. Then alternate all between head and feet, gradually increasing the distance until you can

stretch out both your feet and head to about two feet or more. At this stage imagine stretching out both at once. This exercise will make you feel dizzy and often start the vibrations.

After some practice, you will experience floating sensations and you can then tell yourself to rise up towards the ceiling. You are out!

9. The Hammock Technique: Visualize yourself lying in a bright white hammock, stationed between two palm trees on a secluded beach. Imagine the feeling of swaying in the wind, and recreate that feeling now as you visualize yourself swaying from side to side in the hammock. Repeat this visualization for as long as it takes to bring forth the vibrations, and when you feel the vibrations, just “roll-out” of your body.

Whichever technique you choose, you are unlikely to get a result on the very first night, or even on the first few nights – so take your time with them and try not to get frustrated when nothing happens at first. But I promise you will soon start to see some results.